Stom  t^e  feifitatt  of 

(profeBBor  ^amuef  (gtiffer 

in  QJtemoiri?  of 

3ubge  ^amuef  (Bliffer  (f  recftintibge 

(J}ire0enteb  6i> 

^amuef  (Qtiffer  (gJrecftinribge  feong 

to  f  ^  £i6irairi5  of 

(Princeton  C^eofogicaf  ^eminarg 


122  ADDRESS,  <fec. 

thee :  When  thou  walkest  through  the  fire,  thou  shalt 
not  be  burnt,  nor  shall  the  flame  kindle  upon  thee."  If 
your  incomes  be  small  and  pinching,  "  Ye  know  the 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though  he  was  rich, 
yet  for  our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we  through  his  pov- 
erty might  be  rich."  He  shall  see  his  seed,  the  "travail  of 
his  soul,  and  be  satisfied  :"  and  he  has  promised,  "  I  will 
abundantly  bless  her  provision,  and  satisfy  her  poor  with 
bread.  I  will  satiate  the  soul  of  her  priests  with  fatness." 
A  salary  of  remarkable  fellowship  with  Christ,  and  of 
success  in  winning  souls,  is  the  most  delightful  and  en- 
riching. If  your  labours  appear  to  have  little  success,  be 
more  diligent  and  dependent  on  Christ.  "  Never  mourn 
as  they  that  have  no  hope."  Let  not  the  eunuch  say, 
"  I  am  a  dry  tree,"  Jesus  hath  said,  "  I  will  pour  water 
on  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods  on  the  dry  ground, 
I  will  pour  my  Spirit  on  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  on 
thine  offspring.  A  seed  shall  serve  him.  The  whole 
earth  shall  be  filled  with  his  glory.  The  kingdoms  of 
this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and 
his  Christ,"  Believe  it  on  the  testimony  of  God  him- 
self: believe  it  on  the  testimony  of  all  his  faithful  ser- 
vants; and,  if  mine  were  of  any  avail,  I  should  add  it, 
That  there  is  no  master  so  kind  as  Christ ;  no  service  so 
pleasant  and  profitable  as  that  of  Christ ;  and  no  reward 
so  full,  satisfying,  and  permanent  as  that  of  Christ.  Let 
us,  therefore,  "  begin  all  things  from  Christ ;  carry  on 
all  things  with  and  through  Christ ;  and  let  all  things 
iaim  at  and  end  in  Christ." 


^ 


CONSIDERATIONS 


ON 


FOREIGN   JMISSIONS. 


ADDRESSED   TO 


CANDIDATES 


THE    HOLY   MINISTRY. 


BY  REV.  JAMES  W.  ALEXANDER, 

TRENTON,  N.  J. 


CONSIDERATIONS 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 


No  one  can  so  forcibly  present  the  claims  of  Missions 
as  the  man  who  is  himself  a  missionary.  Hence  there 
is  an  urgency  in  the  appeals  of  Hall,  Ward,  and  Swan, 
which  is  almost  irresistible.  And  this  might  seem  to 
stamp  with  presumption,  if  not  insincerity,  the  attempt 
of  a  domestic  pastor  to  enlist  men  for  the  foreign  service. 
Physician  heal  thyself,  might  seem  a  very  natural  re- 
joinder. This,  however,  is  simply  a  prejudice ;  and  the 
flaw  of  the  objection  is  betrayed  as  soon  as  we  hold  it  up 
to  the  light ;  for  the  true  ground  upon  which  the  claims 
of  Missions  should  be  rested,  is  the  broad  foundation  of 
the  Christian  ministry  itself.  And  therefore  every  min- 
ister is  culpable  if  he  has  not,  even  in  his  most  private 
toils,  the  spirit  of  a  missionary.  He  who  becomes  a  pas- 
tor, rather  than  an  evangelist,  from  fear,  selfishness, 
lukewarmness,  or  pride,  is  as  unfit  to  preach  in  the  city 
as  in  the  wilderness. 

Candidates  for  the  sacred  office  are  too  much  accus- 
tomed to  think  thus  :  "  I  will  prepare  myself  to  serve 
God  as  a  preacher  in  my  native  land,  and  if  I  should  be 


126  CONSIDERATIONS  ON 

specially  moved,  and  loudly  called,  I  will  become  a  for- 
eign missionary."  Here  there  is  altogether  an  error, 
and  an  error  so  great,  that  we  need  not  be  surprised  to 
find  him  who  harbours  it,  as  really  unfitted  for  the  min- 
istry at  home,  as  he  supposes  himself  to  be  for  the  min- 
istry abroad. 

Every  candidate  for  this  momentous  work  should  con- 
sider himself  as  dedicated  to  Christ  without  reserve  or 
exception ;  not  merely  devoted  to  this  or  that  function, 
or  set  apart  for  the  more  easy  employments  of  the  city, 
or  of  refined  society,  but  yielded  up  to  the  cause  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  in  the  spirit  of  sacrifice,  with  no  limitation 
or  evasion  of  his  bonds.  There  is  something  indescrib- 
ably attractive  in  the  character  of  such  a  youth.  He  is 
ready,  if  the  Lord  will,  to  go  to  the  pestilent  swamps  of 
Burmah,  or  to  work  at  the  printing  presses  of  Malta,  or  to 
endure  the  still  greater  self-denials  of  teaching  the  Ameri- 
can  Indians,  no  less  than  to  display  his  moving  oratory  be- 
fore a  listening  crowd  in  the  metropolis,  or  through  the 
press  to  rouse  or  melt  the  community  of  readers. 

It  would  seem  that  there  is  an  idea  prevalent  among 
our  young  men,  that  a  call  to  the  ministry,  and  a  call  to 
the  missionary  life,  are  generically  different.  This  is 
untrue  and,  dangerous.  It  is  undoubtedly  right  to  ex- 
pect that  the  concurrence  of  circumstances  and  feel- 
ings which  go  to  constitute  a  call  to  the  foreign  service, 
should  differ  from  those  which  determine  one  to  stay  at 
home:  Yet  the  service  is  the  same,  the  cause  is  the 
same,  the  qualifications  are  the  same,  and  the  spirit 
should  be  the  same.    The  spirit  which  led  Whitefield  to 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  127 

the  West,  and  Martyn  to  the  East,  is  the  same  which 
urged  on  the  labours  of  Fuller  and  Pajson  and  Rice ; 
nay,  is  the  very  same  spirit  which  leads  you  into  the 
house  of  your  next  neighbour,  in  order  to  invite  him  to 
Christ.  It  is  the  love  of  God  joined  with  the  love  of  souls. 
Without  this,  every  minister  or  candidate  is  a  hypocrite, 
whose  place,  unless  he  repent,  must  be  eternally  fixed  in 
hell.  And  with  this  genuine  characteristic  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  the  minister  or  the  candidate  is  as  ready,  at  the 
call  of  his  Master,  to  go  abroad,  as  to  remain  in  his  native 
land.  Where  there  is  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  the 
love  of  mankind,  there  is  a  fitness,  so  far  as  mere  dispo- 
sition is  regarded,  for  either  work;  and  he  who  is  without 
this  should  make  all  possible  haste  to  clear  himself  from 
the  horrible  stain  of  blood,  the  blood  of  souls,  which  will 
adhere  to  unfaithful  ministers. 

Let  the  candidate  for  the  Ministry  ask  himself  this 
question :  "  Why  do  I  desire  to  preach  the  Gospel  ?" 
His  answer  will  no  doubt  be,  "  Because  I  desire  to  glorify 
God,  by  the  conversion  of  souls ;  to  obey  the  commands 
of  Christ ;  to  turn  the  talents  which  I  possess  to  the 
greatest  possible  advantage  in  the  service  of  the  Lord." 
Now,  if  the  heart  be  sincere,  if  this  answer  spring  from 
conviction  and  feeling,  there  will  be  in  him  who  utters  it 
an  entire,  unreserved  willingness  to  labour  any  where, 
without  exception,  without  delay,  without  one  pang  of 
reluctance,  where  God  may  be  honoured  and  souls  saved. 
You  desire  to  obey  the  commandment  of  Christ,  and  to 
be  a  co-worker  with  God  in  saving  sinners.  You  desire 
it  without  respect  to  personal  ease,  emolument,  or  hon- 
L 


128  CONSIDERATIONS  ON 

our.  You  seek  the  Ministry,  not  as  a  comfortable  pro. 
fession,  or  a  favourable  retreat  from  the  noise  of  the  world, 
in  which  you  may  cultivate  literature  without  interrup- 
tion, but  as  a  painful,  trying-  service,  in  which  a  draught 
will  be  made  upon  all  your  capabilities  in  order  to  convert 
sinners.  Your  object  is  to  contribute  towards  the  illu- 
mination of  the  whole  world.  And  why  is  this  your  de- 
sire ?  What  is  your  authority  for  so  vast  an  enterprise, 
so  unusual  an  expectation?  The  reply  is  easy ;  the  Lord 
has  said,  in  language  which  no  repetition  makes  uninter- 
esting.— "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  every  creature."  It  is  the  very  commission  under 
which  you  hope  to  act.  This  will  be  your  watchword, 
even  if  you  labour  all  your  days  in  some  little  village  of 
America;  and  because  it  is  so,  because  the  field  of  mo- 
tives urging  you  to  the  Ministry  has  this  extent,  and  no 
more;  because,  if  you  are  preacher  at  all,  you  must  be  a 
preacher  under  this  commission ;  there  is  every  reason 
why  you  should  cast  down  the  limitations  which  fence 
in  your  views,  and  regard  the  field  as  the  world.  The 
same  command  which  makes  you  a  preacher  to  your 
own  native  town,  should  make  you,  if  duly  called,  a 
preacher  to  the  Aborigines  or  the  Islanders. 

The  terms  which  are  in  common  use,  contribute  to 
perpetuate  an  error  in  many  minds.  We  speak  of  a 
missionary  as  something  unique;  and  draw  a  broad  de- 
marcation between  the  respective  companies  of  mission- 
aries and  ministers.  This  is  not  indeed  intended,  but 
such  is  the  effect  produced.  Let  it  be  observed  by  our 
youth,  that  a  foreign  missionary  is  a  preacher  to  foreign. 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  129 

countries,  and  nothing  else.  He  is  one  who  would  be 
under  no  necessity  of  changing  his  motives,  his  feelings, 
or  his  zeal  in  labour,  if  he  were  suddenly  recalled  to  the 
domestic  service.  On  the  other  hand,  the  country  pastor 
is  a  preacher  to  immortal  souls  at  home,  and  if  he  is  a 
faithful  man,  and  acts  in  pursuance  of  a  divine  call,  will 
be  entirely  ready  to  leave  his  charge,  and  exchange  his 
labours  for  those  of  the  foreign  missionary.  In  a  word 
the  spirit  of  missions  is  the  ministerial  spirit;  and  where 
there  is  not  love  for  souls  sufficiently  ardent  to  make  one 
heartily  willing  to  fly  to  the  succour  of  the  Cherokee  or 
the  Tartar,  there  is  not  enough  of  the  main  thing  required 
in  pastors  to  clear  a  man's  conscience  or  vindicate  his 
profession.  Let  it  not  be  supposed,  as  is  too  common, 
that  the  young  student  or  minister  must  needs  have  a 
certain  quantum  of  holy  zeal  for  Christ,  in  order  to  make 
it  possible  for  him  to  enter  the  sacred  office  without  sa- 
crilege, and  yet  that  the  ardour  and  love  which  would 
make  him  a  missionary,  and  would  send  him  to  the  hea- 
then, is  something  still  beyond  this,  which,  though  excel- 
lent, is  not  required  ;  a  mere  supererogation,  an  angeli- 
cal quality  to  which  only  a  favoured  few  can  hope  to  at- 
tain. Let  it  not  be  supposed,  to  put  the  caution  in  a 
single  clause,  that  you  are  at  liberty  to  mark  the 
line  at  which  your  love  of  souls  shall  rea<;h  its  maxi- 
mum. A  graduating  process  of  this  kind  may  be 
allowed  in  trade,  in  literature,  in  pleasure,  but  not  in 
serving  Christ.  "  In  this  cause  we  can  do  nothing  aright 
unless  we  do  all  we  can.  If  any  one  come  short  of  the 
limits  of  his  ability  in  aiding  this  cause,  he  betrays  a 


130  CONSIDERATIONS  ON 

criminal  indifference  which  renders  all  that  he  does  ac- 
complish worthless  in  the  sight  of  God;  and  however  it 
may  be  overruled  for  good  by  Him  who  can  make  the 
lukewarmness,  as  \yell  as  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise 
Him ;  yet  such  a  spirit,  considered  in  itself,  must  be  re- 
garded by  infinite  purity  and  love  with  the  loathing 
occasioned  by  that  which  is  neither  cold  nor  hot."* 

The  Redeemer  must  have  all ;  and  (blessed  be  God) 
not  only  all  that  we  are  and  have  now,  but  all  that  with 
a  still  expanding  capacity  we  can  ever  be,  or  do.  And 
where  is  the  youth,  wounded  by  the  ignominy  and  misery 
of  sinners,  bleeding  in  secret  for  the  hurt  of  the  daughter 
of  Zion,  who  can  sit  down  deliberately  and  make  terms 
with  Christ ;  or  say  '  thus  far  will  I  follow  thee,  but  no 
farther  ?'  Where  is  the  beloved  youth  under  the  patron- 
age of  the  Church,  who  can  for  an  instant  hesitate  as  to 
this  entire  devotion  of  himself  to  her  great  work — the 

EVANGELIZING  OF  THE  WORLD  ? 

To  prevent  misapprehension,  let  it  be  remembered, 
that  it  is  far  from  the  scope  of  these  remarks  to  insinu- 
ate that  every  preacher  should  go  to  the  Heathen ;  or  that 
they  who  stay  at  home  must  of  necessity  be  less  zealous 
and  devoted  than  those  who  go  abroad.  Nay,  it  is  the 
error  which  lies  coiled  in  these  expressions,  that  is  now 
combated.  It  is  attempted  to  press  upon  the  minds  of 
all  candidates  that  the  spirit  of  the  good  pastor  is  identi- 
cal with  the  spirit  of  the  good  missionary  ;  and  that,  so 
far  as  the  spirit  is  concerned,  he  who  is  faithful  and 

*   Swan's  Letters. 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  131 

efficient  in  America,  would  be  equally  so  in  the  islands 
of  the  Pacific;  that  every  candidate  for  the  work  of  the 
Ministry  should  encourage  the  sentiment,  that  he  is  a 
servant  not  yet  assigned  to  his  field,  a  soldier  awaiting 
orders ;  that  he  has  no  semblance  of  a  right  to  determine 
whither  he  will  go,  or  whether  he  will  abide  at  home. 

It  is  high  time  that  the  Church  should  take  a  more 
cheerful  view  of  Christian  Missions.  It  is  meet  that  we 
should  no  longer  speak  and  think  and  pray  about  the  vol- 
untary expatriation  of  a  happy  Christian  groupe,  bound 
for  distant  shores,  as  if  it  were  a  dreary  exile ;  a  doubtful 
enterprise ;  a  jeopardy  without  promise.  It  is  not  so. 
We  wrong  our  dear  missionary  brethren  if  we  think  it 
so  viewed  by  them.  There  may  be  poignancy  in  the 
severance  of  happy  ties,  especially,  as  in  Martyn's  case, 
where  the  temperament  of  the  departing  Evangelist  is 
delicate.  And  this  is  that  which  makes  it  a  self-denial, 
a  cross-bearing.  Were  there  no  pangs,  there  would  be 
no  cross  to  take  up.  There  are  minds  indeed  so  coarse 
and  phlegmatic  as  to  pass  even  such  critical  moments  as 
these  with  apathy ;  but  they  are  not  the  more  likely,  from 
such  a  complexion,  to  rejoice  with  them  that  do  rejoicci 
and  weep  with  them  that  weep.  The  generous  heart 
will  gush  forth  at  such  an  hour ;  but  I  have  never  doubt- 
ed, that  even  then,  when  the  last  farewell  has  been  said 
and  betokened,  when  the  last  headland  of  the  native  coast 
has  sunk  and  vanished,  when  the  freshening  breeze  has 
swelled  the  canvas,  and  all  has  conspired  to  pronounce 
the  divorce  from  home — I  have  never  doubted  that  in  this 
hour  of  imwonted  experience  there  has  been  a  calm 
L    2 


132  CONSIDERATIONS  ON 

after  tumult,  a  sweet  serenity  of  composed  reliance, 
and  a  filial  repose  in  that  Lord  whose  power  is  such, 
"  that  even  the  winds  and  the  sea  obey  him," — which 
together  indicate  a  happiness  akin  to  that  of  heaven. 

Yet  it  is  by  no  means  proper  that  the  candidate  for 
the  Ministry,  especially  in  the  early  stages  of  his  course, 
should  definitively  choose  his  field  of  labour — even 
though  his  choice  should  be  the  foreign  service.  Like 
the  cadet  who  is  going  through  his  preparations  for 
military  life,  without  knowing  whither  he  shall  be  sent 
upon  receiving  his  commission — the  pious  student  should 
patiently  await  the  indications  of  a  higher  authority. 
The  errors  against  which  he  must  guard  are  evidently 
two.  He  may  precipitately  resolve  to  be  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary— and  this  without  having  any  decisive  evidence 
of  his  fitness  for  the  work.  The  consequence  of  such 
precipitation  has,  in  a  number  of  cases,  been,  that  young 
men,  under  the  influence  of  a  false  impression  respecting 
the  mental  qualifications  required  in  the  missionary  life, 
have  neglected  their  studies,  and  after  all,  have  retreated 
from  the  ground  of  their  original  determination.  The 
second  error,  it  must  be  owned,  is  far  more  common. 
Perhaps  a  majority  of  our  young  ministers  have  set  the 
question  at  rest  with  regard  to  their  own  case,  by  deter- 
mining that,  whatever  might  be  the  duty  of  others,  it  is 
theirs  to  be  pastors  in  their  native  country.  Perhaps  a 
large  number  have  never  gravely  inquired,  as  a  personal 
affair,  whether  the  perishing  souls  of  millions  of  idola- 
ters did  not  call  so  loudly  upon  them,  as  to  make  it  their 
duty  to  become  missionaries.     Alas !    my  brethren,  how 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  133 

long  shall  this  spirit  of  slumber  endure  ?  How  long  will 
you  take  it  for  granted,  as  a  matter  admitting  of  no 
debate,  that  your  duty  is  to  labour  at  home, — and  that 
while,  many  who  have  gone  out  from  us  are  bearing  the 
heat  and  burden  of  the  day,  you  may  have  a  dispensa- 
tion from  all  services  of  the  kind  ?  The  harvest  truly  is 
great,  the  labourers  are  few;  and  when  you  bow  your 
knees  in  prayer  that  God  would  send  forth  more  labour- 
ers into  his  harvest,  does  it  never  flash  upon  your  hearts 
that  you  are  yourselves  the  very  persons  to  be  sent? 
Have  you  no  sympathy  with  the  awe  and  contrition  and 
self-renunciation  of  the  prophet,  when  he  cried,  'Here 
am  I,  Lord,  send  me?' 

Consider  this  plain  statement  of  the  case.  You  ex- 
pect to  be  preachers  of  the  Gospel.  You  hold  yourselves 
so  entirely  devoted  to  this  work,  that  you  are  willing  to 
go  wherever  the  Lord  may  send  you.  You  accordingly 
look  around  to  ask  which  those  regions  are,  where  the 
Gospel  is  most  needed,  or  where  Christ  can  be  most 
honoured.  The  question  is,  usually,  between  civilized 
America  and  the  Heathen — and  what  are  the  compara- 
tive circumstances  of  the  two  ?  In  these  United  States 
there  is  enough  of  Divine  truth  within  the  reach  of 
every  individual  (speaking  in  general  terms,)  to  render 
him  inexcusable  in  the  sight  of  God,  if  not  to  save  his 
soul.  Is  it  so  in  other  lands  ?  There  are  at  least  five 
hundred  millions  who  are  idolaters,  and  one  hundred 
millions  who  are  Mohammedans — not  to  speak  of  nomi- 
nal  Christians  and  infidels !  And,  as  has  been  well  re- 
marked, "  we  are  not  to  conceive  of  this  vast  multitude  as 


134  CONSIDERATIONS  ON 

collected  upon  the  stage  of  the  world,  and  standing  still, 
waiting  till  we  are  able  or  disposed  to  make  known  to 
them  the  way  of  salvation.  They  are  not  standing  still ; 
they  are  moving  along  the  stage  ;  and  as  thousands 
of  them  enter  every  hour  on  one  side  of  it,  as  many 
disappear  on  the  other  side ;  so  that  the  number  per- 
petually fluctuating  is  still  kept  up :  but  twenty  millions 
of  them  pass  away  every  year — pass  away,  and  are  be- 
yond our  reach  forever!"  Now  to  him  who  expects  to 
be  invested  with  the  ministerial  office,  these  facts  cry 
aloud  with  a  voice  of  importunate  supplication.  And 
who  can  look  over  the  brink  of  such  an  abyss  of  horror, 
and  contemplate  the  agony  of  everlasting  exile  from 
God,  as  realized  by  so  many  sinful  fellov;  men,  without 
"  great  heaviness,"  yea  even  "  continual  sorrow"  in 
heart?  Other  men  are  called  to  less  direct  measures 
and  sacrifices—  candidates  for  the  Ministry  are  called  to 
give  themselves. 

Let  the  proportion  be  considered,  between  the  six 
hundred  million  souls  who  have  never  heard  of  a  Sa- 
viour from  sin,  and  the  comparative  handful  in  Chris- 
tian  America  who  are  in  similar  ignorance, — and  it 
will  be  seen  at  once,  that  this  is  not  a  question  which 
should  be  in  so  summary  a  way  set  aside;  that  it  is 
not  self-evident  that  for  one  who  goes  to  the  Heathen, 
a  thousand  should  remain  at  home :  nay,  it  will  be 
seen  by  him  who  devoutly  weighs  all  the  grave  con- 
siderations which  encircle  the  subject,  that  there  is 
reason  to  reconsider  all  his  previous  determinations. 
The  question   is   commonly  put  in  the  wrong  order, 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  135 

namely,  thus, — Why  should  I  go  on  a  Foreign  Mis- 
sion? Most  plainly  it  ought  to  be  stated  thus, — Why 
am  I  exempt  from  the  duty  of  carrying  the  Gospel  to 
perishing  millions, — when  their  number  is  twenty  times 
greater  than  that  of  all  the  real  Christians  upon  earth  ? 
To  you,  then,  dear  young  brethren,  who  feel  that  there 
is  a  claim  upon  your  best  services,  founded  on  the  death 
of  Jesus — that  there  is  a  solace  in  Christian  charity, 
which  you  desire  to  communicate  to  the  desolate  Gen- 
tile,— ^that  there  is  a  body  of  Christians  whom  your  very 
heart  pants  to  see  increased  by  thousands,  it  may  be 
said, — if  there  be  "any  consolation  in  Christ,  if  any 
comfort  of  love,  if  any  fellowship  of  the  spirit,  if  any 
bowels  and  mercies,"  fulfil  ye  tlie  joy  of  the  Church,  the 
joy  of  Christ,  by  yielding  yourselves  to  this  work.  And 
while  we  who  have  gone  before  you  into  the  Ministry, 
are  struggling  with  a  depressing  sense  of  inefficiency, 
and  stung  by  conscience  for  our  neglects,  do  you,  in  fear 
of  like  regrets  and  compunctions, — take  that  field  which 
no  pious  missionary  has  ever  yet  repented  of  having 
sought. 

It  is  high  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep.  The  Church  is 
awakening.  Contributions  are  more  like  the  gifts  of  those 
who  have  "first  given  their  own  selves  unto  the  Lord;" 
every  year  witnesses  the  increase  of  missionary  candi- 
dates in  our  Seminaries;  every  Monthly  Concert  in 
Prayer  is  swelled  by  the  accordant  notes  of  new  be- 
lievers.  It  is  time  that  every  probationer,  yea,  and 
every  settled  minister,  should  hold  himself  ready  to  go 
abroad  as  an  Evangelist ;  or  rather,  that  the  Church  had 


136  CONSIDERATIONS  ON 

at  her  disposal,  for  this  work,  all  the  youth  whom  sHe 
may  deem  it  desirable  to  send.  Opposition  is  dying 
away.  We  are  no  longer  repelled  by  objections  to  this 
Apostolic  Enterprize ;  for  all  are  beginning  to  perceive 
that  no  objection  can  be  urged  against  modern  missions 
which  would  not  have  been  equally  strong  against  the 
missions  of  Paul,  Barnabas,  and  the  early  preachers. 
Some  there  are  even  now  who  ^*  please  not  God,  and  are 
contrary  to  all  men ;  forbidding  us  to  speak  to  the  Gen- 
tiles that  they  might  be  saved," — but  they  are  not  the 
friends  of  Christ  or  his  caiise ;  and  we ""  hope  better 
things  of  you,  and  things  that  accompany  salvation." 

A  few  brief  counsels  will  conclude  this  essay.  Though 
trite,  they  are  momentous,  and  the  profound  considera- 
tion of  them  you  will  never  have  cause  to  regret.  For 
the  sake  of  conciseness  they  are  expressed  in  the  form 
of  exhortation,  and  this  must  excuse  any  thing  magiste- 
rial in  their  style.  To  candidates  for  the  Ministry,  then, 
— whether  still  abiding  under  the  paternal  roof,  or  pur- 
smng  studies  in  schools,  colleges,  &x;.,  the  friends  of  mis- 
sions address  themselves  with  these  hints  and  admoni- 
tions^ 

1.  Cultivate  that  desire  for  the  glory  of  Christ,  which 
is  indispensable  in  the  pastor,  no  less  than  in  the  mis- 
sionary. 

2.  Cherish  the  sentiment  that  you  are  not  your  own, 
and  that,  consequently,  you  have  no  right  to  form  any 
habit,  or  enter  into  any  engagement,  employment,  or 
alhance  which  could  give  a  bias  to  your  determinations, 
or  throw  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  ydur  zeal.     Hold 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  137 

yourself  disentangled,  and  in  readiness  to  meet  those 
calls  which  the  Church  is  about  to  make  in  behalf  of  the 
Heathen. 

3.  As  the  spirit  of  missions  is  the  spirit  of  love  for 
souls,  imbibe  this  now, — cultivate  this  temper  from  day 
to  day,  from  this  very  moment,  by  doing  all  the  good 
you  can  to  the  souls  of  your  relatives,  friends,  neigh- 
bours, dependants,  class-mates.  If  you  are  fearful,  or 
ashamed  of  Christ,  at  the  fireside,  or  in  an  academy  or 
college, — what  can  you  expect  to  be  if  called  to  "  speak 
of  his  testimonies  before  kings  ?" 

4.  Consider  yourselves  as  agents  for  foreign  missions 
in  every  company,  and  rejoice  in  the  opportunity  afford- 
ed of  contributing  to  the  animation  of  others,  and  the 
simultaneous  quickening  of  your  own  zeal. 

Finally.  With  earnest  prayer  for  direction,  let  your 
language  be.  Lord,  ibhat  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  This 
petition  you  may  offer  with  peculiar  interest  in  the  ex- 
pected reply,  for  "  in  the  whole  compass  of  human  be- 
nevolence, THERE  IS  NOTHING  SO  GRAND,  SO  NOBLE,  SO 
CHRISTIAN,  so  TRULY  GOD-LIKE,  AS  THE  WORK  OF  EVANGEL- 
IZING THE  HEATHEN."* 

•  Rev.  W.  Orme. 


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